


In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow

by tardisy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 07:13:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/897390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardisy/pseuds/tardisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“But they gave him freedom. They gave him choice. They let him choose.” Cas shrugged blithely. “A good man once told me that is the greatest gift we have.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> [Inspiration](http://deanlorean.tumblr.com/post/56295555501/cas-has-watched-free-willy-over-a-hundred-times): _Cas has watched Free Willy over a hundred times because it speaks to him on a deep and meaningful spiritual level._
> 
> Title from "I Will Be There" (Michael Jackson), from "Free Willy." Of course.
> 
> Originally posted on [Tumblr](http://tardisy.tumblr.com/post/56306856405/x-cas-castiel-jumped-at-hearing-his-name-so)

  


 

“Cas.” 

Castiel jumped at hearing his name so suddenly in the quiet calm of the empty room, the rumbling vowel drawn out in warning. He jerked his hand back from the smooth, thick glass of the tank guiltily, but didn’t move away. Dean ambled closer, until their shoulders brushed as they stood together, watching the orca roll gracefully in front of them.

“We were wondering where you got off to.  One minute we were all at that River Monsters exhibit thing, then I turned around, and, poof, you were gone.” If Castiel heard the restrained anxiety in those last words, he gave no indication beyond grunting softly in acknowledgement. Dean watched Cas out of the corner of his eye: his face bathed in the ambient blue of the water, his perpetually wrinkled brow, the soft set of his eyes and mouth, enthralled. Dean turned his gaze away from him reluctantly, and let himself get lost in the antics of the incredible creature before them. He almost missed Cas’ words when he spoke.

“How did you find me, then?”

Dean smirked. “The beauty of Netflix, man, is the blackmail material. There a _History_.” And oh, did Sammy learn that the hard way. Unfortunately – he cringed internally – so did Dean. He continued lightly. “There’s only one guy I know that would be able to watch Free Willy on repeat, 27 times in a row.” He didn’t miss it when Cas’ mouth quirked as he glanced shyly at the ground.

“It wasn’t all at once,” he replied, amused. “And you shouldn’t be spying.”

Dean grinned, nudging him with his shoulder. “Dude. I thought it was porn. What did you expect me to do?” Castiel chuckled, and Dean couldn’t help but be thrown to the memory of them, side by side on park benches, the first time he felt he was seeing, hearing _Cas,_ not _Castiel_. He was distracted from it as the orca cruised by them again, leaving tiny bubbles in its wake.

“Standin’ here, I can see why you’re obsessed with ‘em,” Dean breathed reverently.

Cas nodded, answering in kind.  “They are incredible creatures.” He shifted uneasily before he continued, quiet and stilted, “But that’s not the only reason I enjoy that film.”

Dean didn’t look at him; it felt safer, for some reason, but he didn’t hesitate to ask, “Why then?”

Castiel reached toward the tank again, and as he rested his hand against the glass, the orca swam toward it, curious. “It’s about a creature in a world not its own. Separated from its family, from all it has ever known.” Cas petted at the glass, tracing the line of the orca’s massive mouth.  His gaze was unfocused, his voice coarse, foggy. Dean clenched his hands at his sides, so as not to reach out to him and interrupt the moment.  “It was confused, mourning… dying. Weak. It was lost, in so many ways.”  The orca spun away suddenly and disappeared to the other side of the tank, but Castiel kept his hand pressed to the glass. Dean looked at him just as his face broke in a clear, soft smile, as enthralled with him as Cas had been with his orca. “But others heard it. They saw beyond the nature of the strange, fearful creature. They saw it stripped of its strength, at its lowest point, and they helped it anyway.” Cas’ hand slid away from the glass as he murmured, “They _loved_ it anyway. And they helped it find its freedom.”

At that, Dean felt his stomach drop, twisting painfully in his gut. He let the silence settle between them for a few moments, until he could trust his trust his voice to be steady when he asked the question that got to the heart of an issue he had been stubbornly avoiding since Cas fell. “Doesn’t that movie end with the Willy swimming to a galaxy far, far away, never to be heard from again?”

For the first time, Castiel turned to face Dean fully, staring at him until he met his gaze. And Cas may have lost a lot when he fell, but that _look_ that Dean can’t avoid, can’t ever not match, that intense blue, silent but speaking volumes, always, has nothing to do with angelhood, it’s all _Cas._ It’s everything he would miss, and more.

But Cas was untroubled, a small smile gracing his face, as he replied gently, “Yes.” The word echoed in the empty room, bounced in Dean’s head, even though Cas barely moved his lips. Dean clenched his jaw, turning back toward the seemingly empty tank. He knew the orca was in there, somewhere, but couldn’t see it; it wasn’t a comfort. A gentle hand pressed at his jaw, trailing down his neck before it rested on his shoulder, tenderly moving him to meet Cas’ gaze once again. They stared at each other in the wavering blue light, mirror images. “But they gave him freedom. They gave him _choice_. They let him choose.” Cas shrugged blithely. “A good man once told me that is the greatest gift we have.”

Dean huffed. “A good man, huh?”

Castiel smiled widely. “The best. The best I know, or have ever known.”

Dean felt himself flush and he glanced away quickly, rubbing at his neck. “Yeah, okay.”  Cas let his hand drop away from Dean as he laughed softly. “What?” Dean asked, self-conscious.

“’The Willy,’ Dean? ‘A galaxy far, far away’?” He shook his head at Dean, mocking. “I think you need to stop watching all of that Dr. Sexy on Netflix, and perhaps brush up on your classic films, as I have been doing.” At Dean’s shocked expression, he leaned in to whisper conspiratorially: “You’re not the only one capable of checking the Netflix history, Dean Winchester.”  Dean watched Cas as he hovered a breath away for a moment, before his laugh echoed loudly off the thick glass of the tanks. Castiel leaned back, pleased.

When Dean caught his breath, he asked, “Oh yeah? And what’re gonna do about that?”

“I’m going to make you watch Free Willy 27 times.”

The lingering melancholy dampened his smile, and he concentrated his gaze to the proximity of Cas’ ear as he replied, “Don’t know if we’ll have time for that.”

Castiel crowded closer to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders to pull him close. His eyes still danced in amusement, but his voice was serious and intense as he said, “We have all the time in the world.” He tugged Dean away from the tank, toward the exit. “Let’s find the others, and go home.”

“Home?” Dean mumbled.

Castiel squeezed his shoulder firmly. “Home.”  

As they sauntered away together, the orca swam back into view behind them, its nose a dark smudge on the glass as it watched them go, and all the while, Cas’ hand was a pleasant, burning heat gentle on Dean’s arm.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [Tumblr](http://tardisy.tumblr.com/post/56306856405/x-cas-castiel-jumped-at-hearing-his-name-so)


End file.
